


Sticks and Stones

by Remmak



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oral Fixation, Sexual Dysfunction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-08 09:33:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14691393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remmak/pseuds/Remmak
Summary: Hello, folks. This is my first foray into the Uta no Prince-sama fandom, but most certainly not my first rodeo with fanfiction. I will tell you straight up that I am a slow-burn type, so if you're more one and done, my writing isn't for you. I've tagged this story according to content I know for sure will be present, but if anything else comes up, I will add additional tags as necessary. Thank you muchly and see you soon!*this work contains footnotes that require Creator's style to be turned on*





	Sticks and Stones

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, folks. This is my first foray into the Uta no Prince-sama fandom, but most certainly not my first rodeo with fanfiction. I will tell you straight up that I am a slow-burn type, so if you're more one and done, my writing isn't for you. I've tagged this story according to content I know for sure will be present, but if anything else comes up, I will add additional tags as necessary. Thank you muchly and see you soon! ***this work contains footnotes that require Creator's style to be turned on***

**Chapter One**

 

It was mid afternoon and Ranmaru was at home, slumped barefoot on his couch. The TV was on in front of him, but he wasn’t watching it and hadn’t been for hours. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he needed to get up and turn it off – that the damn thing was only making his stuffy apartment even hotter – but between the pain in his leg and his own acute boredom, he couldn’t find the energy. Instead, he merely laid there, staring at the ceiling and stewing about what he was missing out on.

The other members of the academy had left that morning for Hakone, and, despite the importance their boss placed on kinship between his performers, it was decided that Ranmaru’s special circumstances required he be left behind for once. It was a verdict that seemed to rankle his kohai almost as much as himself, but he was unwilling to allow their loyalty to him to threaten their place within the agency. Therefore, he’d simply shut his mouth and advised Masato and Ren to do the same. He knew it had surprised them, to see him submit so readily, but they did as they were told and went along with Saotome’s plans for them. Masato must have still been feeling guilty, though, because he’d texted Ranmaru from the hotel with promises of omiyage upon his return. Ren had sent him a picture of himself in a new bathing suit.

Ranmaru snorted in amusement at the recollection. “You smug bastard...”

Though he hadn’t thought it possible at first, he’d grown attached to his juniors over the course of their training, and shared a bond with them he’d failed to build with the members of his own group. He hated Camus to his core and Ai was just plain creepy. The only one of the three with any redeeming qualities was -

“Honey, I’m hooome!”

Ranmaru started at the sudden outburst, nearly toppling the bass that had been laid across his lap onto the floor. “Reiji…?”

Couldn’t be. He was in Hakone with the others.

Ranmaru tried to sit up, but his back had become so stiff from lack of movement that he gave up half-way through. Prone and essentially helpless, he waited silently for the uninvited guest to reveal themselves.

Whoever it was had a key, because he could hear it turning in the lock. His building was old, and there wasn’t a piece of metal in the place that didn’t whine under even delicate handling. The door swung open, sending sunlight flooding in the room and causing Ranmaru to wince. He heard noise from the street and the scratchy sound of paper bags shifting against each other. A few heavy objects were dropped on the floor of his genkan[1] with dull thuds, and then the door closed again. The smack of rubber-soled shoes against tile was the last thing he heard before a cheery face with impossibly round eyes appeared from over the back of the couch.

“Ran-Ran!” Reiji exclaimed happily, “Hi, hiii! I’m glad you’re awake – when I saw your feet hanging off the couch I thought you might be sleeping...”

“Reiji! What are you doing here? You scared the crap out of me.”

“Oh, sorry, sorry. I wanted to surprise you is all.”

Ranmaru wanted to interrogate the irrepressible fool that had taken it upon himself to invade his home further, but all his weakened body could manage was a dismissive snort. “Whatever. Sit me up, would you?”

Reiji came to Ranmaru’s side of the couch and took his bass. He placed it in the stand next the coffee table then returned to take the bassist’s outstretched hands. As soon as Ranmaru was upright, he turned his head to see what it was Reiji had dumped in his entryway.

“You buy out a whole konbini?[2]” he asked.

“No!” Reiji replied, turning his nose up proudly, “Only the drinks and the ice cream are from the konbini- everything else is from Kotobuki Bento!”

“Does your mom know you’re raiding her kitchen?”

“Un![3] She made me bring you some bananas.” Reiji dashed back to his groceries and lifted up a healthy-looking bunch. “Ta-daa!”

Ranmaru opened his hands and Reiji tossed him one of the yellow fruits. As Ranmaru peeled it, Reiji began moving his bags to the kitchen.

“So, what are you doing here, Reiji?” Ranmaru repeated.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Echoed the brunette’s voice from around the living room corner, “I’m here to take care of you!”

“What about Hakone?”

“What _about_ Hakone?” Reiji retorted.

“You’re supposed to be-”

Reiji returned to the living room. “On a bonding retreat with my kohai? I know, I know. Saotome tried to fight me, too, but he caved when I pointed out that while Shining has many budding pop idols, we’ve only the one rockstar.”

He plopped onto the couch with a pen in his hand. “And if he’s going to be stuck at home with a broken leg while everyone else enjoys a luxury resort, the least I can do as the senior-most talent is keep him company.”

A ball of mixed emotions settled into the pit of Ranmaru’s stomach. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Reiji replied as he lifted the marker with a grin. “Now, then…May I?”

Ranmaru made a permissive wave and took a bite of his banana. The plaster cast that covered his right leg from knee to ankle hadn’t even made it out of the hospital without being defaced by every member of STARISH. Most of the young idols had simply left small doodles and get well messages, but Natsuki, who’d been the most perturbed of his visitors, had bestowed upon his wrappings a limited-edition sticker featuring Piyo-chan in an overturned umbrella. Ranmaru knew this because the mascot had been given pride of place on the top of his foot. Every time he looked down, he saw the questionable character looking back up.

After a few moments of quiet examination, Reiji found something on Ranmaru’s bandage that made his face pinch. “Is that a…”

Ranmaru rolled his mismatched eyes and swallowed his food to answer. “Yes – don’t remind me. Stupid little shit...”

“Ren?” Reiji guessed with raised eyebrows.

“You know any other grown men who still think it’s funny to draw dick pics?”

The shorter man scratched his nose with a grin. “Well, I mean…”

“Right. I forget who I’m talking to,” Ranmaru muttered, “Just hurry up and sign it already, would you? I need the bathroom.”

* * *

After Ranmaru hobbled off on unsteady crutches, Reiji grabbed his last bit of shopping and went back to the kitchen to start putting things away. As he’d expected, the fridge was almost empty, and the cupboards weren’t much better. Despite being a good cook and a damn-near competitive eater, Ranmaru was known to neglect his day-to-day needs when left to his own devices, and so Reiji’s first stop after abandoning the two-week trip to Hakone had been his mother’s restaurant. There, he’d loaded up on all of the rocker’s favorite foods, along with a few other things he thought might make his peer’s recovery more comfortable. When he was finished there, he made a brief stop at Shining HQ to inquire after Ranmaru’s pending projects and pick up his fanmail. Word must have gotten out about the bassist’s broken leg, because his haul of post was much larger and more colorful than usual.

Reiji stashed a tub of ice cream in the freezer and closed it with a sigh. He’d been away, filming on location when the accident occurred, and even as he stood there in Ranmaru’s tiny kitchen, the memory of the phone call informing him that his friend was in the hospital made his heart lurch. A million terrible things had run through his head in the space of a second before the agent on the other end of the line made it clear that the situation wasn’t life-threatening. He’d never been more relieved in his life than when he got to speak to Ranmaru himself the following day, and since then, the feelings Reiji had long harbored for his fellow idol had become harder to keep under control.

Even before the formation of Quartet Night, he’d been enthralled by Shining’s addition to the agency roster. His blood had run hot from the moment he heard the deep, throaty voice and raw lyrics of Ranmaru’s sample tracks, and it was for that reason he’d been surprised to discover that the man himself was far more stoic and withdrawn than his songs suggested. Rather than being put off however, Reiji found the distance between them intriguing, and made excuses to visit the studio in the hope that he might encounter the new face with the odd eyes, and perhaps learn more about him. When it was announced that the two of them would be collaborating as part of a new group, Reiji found the perfect opportunity to do just that.

What he’d discovered in the time since then explained both the passion and the pain of Ranmaru’s music.

With the kitchen fully stocked, Reiji walked to the battered folding table and single chair that served as the dining area to unload the mail, magazines, and official documents he’d collected from Shining earlier in the day. A few letters that had been sent to Ranmaru’s home address were already there, open and stacked into a neat pile. While he hadn’t mean to pry, the bold lettering and underlined text jumped out at Reiji. They were bills – the legacy left behind by Ranmaru’s father. The reason he’d worked so hard to become an idol in the first place.

The short brunette buried the notices under several bundles of postcards and embossed envelopes bound together by rubber bands. Reiji himself had grown up without his father, and though the man wasn’t around to see what his son had become, there were so many other people who were. It was important to him that a born loner who carried the weight of the world like Ranmaru could learn to feel the same.

“Hmm. What to make...”

Reiji turned his thoughts to dinner as he pulled back his hair into a ponytail. He put on an apron and braced himself in anticipation of hostile battle conditions within Ranmaru’s cramped cooking space, but when he began searching the cabinets, he was pleased to find that, at the very least, his friend kept cooking implements handy if not anything to actually cook. He collected a large mixing bowl and frying pan, along with a cutting board. As he examined the knives in the top drawer, he heard the door to the bathroom open.

When Ranmaru puttered his way back down the hall, he stopped to look in on Reiji’s activities. “What are we having?”

“‘We’ aren’t having anything until you take your meds,” Reiji said. He pointed with one of the knives at a bottle of painkillers sitting on the counter, safety seal in-tact.

“They make sick,” Ranmaru complained.

“Only because you take them on an empty stomach. It’s almost dinner time and you’ve had nothing but that banana all day haven’t you? Your body won’t heal if you keeping treating it that way.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Reiji swung the knife in Ranmaru’s direction. “Don’t you sass me! I’m missing Hakone for you, mister.”

The sound of Ranmaru’s laughter was like a warm blanket over Reiji’s heavy heart. He flushed a little under his crush’s appraising gaze. “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

Ranmaru’s smile grew wider at the question. He leaned on one of his crutches and waved a hand at the back of his neck. “I was thinking that hairstyle makes you look like a girl, and now you sound like one, too.”

Reiji donned a brief, exaggerated look of hurt before hooking his hands together under his chin and batting his eyelashes coquettishly. “A _pretty_ girl?”

The bassist just shook his head. “Weirdo.”

“What a thing to say to the person making a meal for you!”

“You want me to help?”

“No,” Reiji told him, “There’s not enough room in here for two people. Just go sit down and I’ll bring you something to tide you over.”

* * *

Back on the couch, Ranmaru began flipping through channels. It was nearly time for the entertainment news to start, and he wondered if the film Reiji had been working on would be featured.

“What’s the name of your movie again?” he called out.

“’The Girl Who Loved Lilies’,” Reiji replied, “And before you ask- _no_ , I’m _not_ playing ‘the girl’.”

Ranmaru smiled to himself. Despite being the most popular victim of his teasing, it always impressed him how quickly Quartet Night’s biggest oddball could pick up a joke and run with it. It was the sort of skill that couldn’t be taught, and Reiji had it in spades. His schedule was forever packed with films, variety shows, and even emcee gigs. That he’d given up what might have been his only vacation all year for Ranmaru’s sake made the younger man uncomfortable. He couldn’t be sure Reiji was telling the truth when he’d said it’d been his own idea to come, and the last thing he wanted was to be a burden on someone else. He knew all too well how soul-crushing it could be to be obligated to others.

Reiji rounded the kitchen corner with a bowl of rice crackers and a stack of magazines just as the program started. He handed the snack to Ranmaru then rested lightly on the edge of the couch, thumbing through a particularly thick volume of the glossy reading material. When he found what he was looking for, he held it up for the other man to see.

It was an apparel ad Ranmaru had shot three months ago. In the aftermath of his accident, he’d forgotten all about it. 

“It finally  went to print ,” he mumbled. 

“ Un!  You look great, Ran-Ran! I bet the collection’s gonna be a big hit!  Did they let you keep the clothes?”

“Yeah,  but I was wearing the jeans when I went to the hospital,” he recalled. “They had to cut them off.”

The brunette’s eyes dimmed at his words and Ranmaru cursed himself silently as he realized how pissy he sounded. Reiji was feeding him, entertaining him, and doing his level best to cheer him up, and he was being nothing but negative in return. 

“That jacket was the best piece, though,” he added quickly, “I can’t wait until it’s cool enough to wear it again.”

When Reiji’s face brightened, Ranmaru began to feel queasy. It wasn’t really a sick feeling, but it was definitely something out of the ordinary. Maybe his friend was right, and his body was rebelling against his poor care of it. “Can I have something to drink, please?”

“Please?” Reiji repeated with a face. “You don’t have a fever, too, do you, Ran-Ran?”

“Reiji...”

The older man laughed and jumped to his feet, leaving the glamour mag on the sofa. “Of course you can. What do you want?”

He wanted a beer, but he knew there was a fat chance of getting it while Reiji was in mother-hen mode. He sighed. “Water is fine.”

“Coming right up!”

Reiji brought the water, then committed himself to the kitchen.

His steady drone of chopping, simmering cooking oil, and inarticulate but happy sounds was strangely relaxing for Ranmaru. The apartment was normally quiet – unless he was playing his bass of course – and the only domestic sounds he heard always came from his neighbors. Why then, when it was the seeking out of silence that spurred him to move out of his family home in the first place, were the simple sounds of life so welcoming? He turned down the volume of the TV just to hear the sizzle of what was undoubtedly the famous Kotobuki karaage[4] being dropped into the frying pan.

It made Ranmaru’s stomach growl, and by the time the news program ended, he’d long since lost interest. He was too distracted by the smell of freshly prepared food. So much so, in fact, the radiating pain in his leg was, for the moment at least, pushed to the back of his mind.

“Whew!” Reiji exclaimed, returning to the living room with bowls and chopsticks. He’d removed his apron and was fanning his face with his free hand. “It’s like a furnace in there. Can I open the window?”

“Sure.” Ranmaru said. He took the dinnerware from Rejij as he passed to crack the double windows at the front of the room. The brunette placed his hands on the low bookshelf that had been shoved against the wall under them and leaned into the breeze with a relieved sigh. The sun had started going down, and the dying rays turned Reiji’s hair golden. Almost as if aware of the eyes on him, Reiji reached lazily for his hair-tie and pulled, sending a waterfall of expertly layered hair down the back of his neck.

Feeling queasy again, Ranmaru looked away. “Is the food ready, yet?”

“Almost,” Reiji replied, turning to face his host, “All I have to do is- uaah!”

The man’s voice mutated into a high-pitched squeal. Ranmaru had managed to make it half-way off the couch in concern before the cause of his friend’s distress was made clear.

A petite calico cat had climbed in through the window behind him, and was batting playfully at the tails of his button-up shirt.

“Wuaah!” Reiji exclaimed, “You scared me, Neko-chan!”

He put his hands on his knees and crouched to be level with the cat’s face. “What a good-looking fellow you are.”

“It’s a girl, Reiji,” Ranmaru informed him as he sank back onto the sofa a little sheepishly.

“How do you know?”

Ranmaru’s lips formed a closed smile and he shook his head. He could have explained the biology behind the cat’s coloring, but he knew the intricacies would be lost on Reiji. Instead his reply was good-humored but flippant. “The same way you usually know.”

The cat made a tiny mewing sound as Reiji picked it up. “Well then, my girl, would you like to join us for dinner? I have some tasty chicken scraps...”

“Her dish is in the cabinet above the sink.”

Reiji’s eyebrows perked. “Is she yours?”

“No, but she’s been in the neighborhood since I moved here and I’ve never seen her with a collar. I think she’s a stray, so I usually give her something if she comes by.”

“Poor Neko-chan...Is it okay if I put her down?”

“Yeah. I let her wander around in here sometimes. She’ll go back out again when she’s ready.”

Reiji sat the cat on the floor gently and beamed as he trotted back to the kitchen. “This is turning into quite the party!”

After a few more agonizing minutes of good smells and the arranging of food on the coffee table, Reiji helped Ranmaru slide to the floor in front of it so he’d be close enough to help himself.

“What do you think, Ran-Ran?” he asked as Ranmaru shoved a large piece of fried chicken into his mouth.

“Ish gud.”

It was simple praise, half-garbled by Ranmaru’s less than mannered eating habits, but it made Reiji light up anyway. “Better than anything at some hoity-toity hotspring in Hakone, huh?”

Ranmaru stared into his rice bowl, his now empty chopsticks resting on his bottom lip absently.

“Reiji...” he said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for coming.”

There was a half-second of nothing before Reiji laughed. “Of course! It’s not just anyone who can say they’ve been to a sleepover at the home of Kurasaki Ranmaru!”

The bassist attacked his meal in order to excuse himself from saying anything further. Either Reiji didn’t notice the tactic or wasn’t bothered by it, because he was content to focus on his own food in companionable silence.

As dinner drew to a close, Ranmaru reached for the last piece of kaarage only to have his chopsticks blocked by Reiji’s as if in some kind of samurai showdown. The rocker looked up questioningly. “You want it?”

Reiji merely turned his chopsticks to point at the prescription bottle next to the dipping sauce that Ranmaru had been trying to ignore.

“Now, please,” he said.

“ Ugh. Fine.”

Ranmaru popped the cap off the bottle and shook out one o f the tablets into his hand, giving Reiji a pointed glare the entire time. The smaller man was unimpressed, and watched to make sure the pill when into Ranmaru’s mouth and down his throat. When he was finished, Ranmaru opened his mouth and lifted his tongue as proof the pill was gone. 

Reiji took  his antics as an opportunity to snatch the last piece of chicken.

“Hey!” Ranmaru protested.

“Apologize for being such a brat and I’ll let you have it.”

Ranmaru steeled himself and muttered. “I’m sorry, Reiji.”

“What was that?”

“I’m  _sorry_ , Reiji!”

“ Good boy,” Reiji sa i d smugly. “Here.”

The tiny hairs on the back of Ranmaru’s neck stood up as, instead of turning over the tasty morsel, Reijj held it out to his face with a smile.  A flush crept up Ranmaru’s neck,  but he finally ate the chicken off Reiji’s chopsticks just to end his own  embarrassment.

* * *

“Sleepy?”

Reiji asked the question in response to a loud yawn from the man sprawled out on the couch behind him. Though it wasn’t that late compared to his usual hours, the one-two punch of a full stomach and prescription painkillers was defeating Ranmaru, and his eyes had been drooping steadily since dinner.

It pained Reiji to have to disturb his friend when he finally seemed comfortable, but he knew sleeping on the sofa would only result in a stiff neck, and beyond that, Ranmaru was still in his makeup.

“Let’s go take out your contact and get you ready for bed,” Reiji said. He rose from his cross-legged position at the base of the couch and reached for the crutches leaned up against the armrest supporting Ranmaru’s head. As he did so, his socked feet slid out from under him, and he collapsed onto the half-sleep man below.

Ranmaru immediately jerked back to alertness in pain, and his groan was loud but groggy. “God, Reiji! You’re gonna break my other leg...”

“Ack! Are you okay, Ran-Ran?!” Reiji sputtered, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, I swear!”

Eye shut tight, Ranmaru managed a weak reply. “I know – it’s fine.”

The deep breaths that hissed through Ranmaru’s clenched teeth as he fought to recover himself stirred the bangs on Reiji’s forehead and sent the brunette’s heart fluttering. As inappropriate a time as it was, his eyes were drawn to the way Ranmaru’s pronounced Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed his irritation at Reiji’s clumsiness, rather than unleashing it in full force as he often had in the past. Reiji knew he was being forgiven an accident that would have been taken as a slight mere months ago, and yet he was saddened by it. So much had changed between the two of them, but it still wasn’t enough. Being so close and yet so far from the man he loved was killing him.

After a few deep breaths, Ranmaru opened his eyes again. “You can get off me anytime, Reiji.”

“What would you do if I said I didn’t want to?”

It had been his voice that spoke the words, but they shocked Reiji, regardless. They’d come into his head unbidden, and out of his mouth just as adamantly. The unintended utterance must have shocked Ranmaru, too, because he went quiet and stiff. Reiji was mortified, and fully prepared to laugh the whole thing off when the other man’s delayed response turned his world upside down.

“What do you want me to do?”

Ranmaru’s tone was guarded, but his face was open and his eyes were clear. Reiji, on the other hand, was wholly unprepared for the turn-around, and could only stammer while blushing furiously.

“Do you even know?” Ranmaru continued evenly.

Suddenly feeling small under the unexpected scrutiny, Reiji’s mouth tightened into a line and his eyes shifted past Ranmaru’s face to inspect the dingy carpet. He let out a little cry when he felt Ranmaru’s hand on his chin.

“Is it because you’re a virgin?”

Rejii’s throat constricted painfully. He slapped Ranmaru’s hand away, blinking back the prickly sensation in his eyes as he did so. “And what’s wrong with that?!”

“Nothing...” Ranmaru answered softly. The quality of his voice had changed again, prompting Reiji to look back at him curiously. “It’s just that...I’ve never been with one before.”

Things crystallized for Reiji, and he shifted nervously against the hard body supporting him. Ranmaru wasn’t mocking his feelings, he was considering them, and very seriously so by the expression on his face. He was a million miles away, even as the scent of him flooded Reiji’s nostrils.

“What if it’s not what you expect?” he asked at last. “What if you regret it?”

The gravity of the question struck Reiji as much as the meaning behind it. Ranmaru was willing, but worried – about _him_.

“I’m not like you, Reiji. I won’t be able to pretend like nothing happened between us if you wake up tomorrow wishing you could take it back, understand?”

Reiji laid his head against Ranmaru’s shoulder and couldn’t resist letting his hands play across the bassist’s broad chest. “I could never regret you, Ran-Ran. You’ve come so far lately, you’ve worked so hard. I’m _proud_ of you.”

When Ranmaru tilted Reiji’s head toward him for a kiss, the smaller man’s soul sang. He’d only had pure intentions in coming to Ranmaru’s home to care for him, and never imagined it would lead to the intimacy he’d been craving for so long. Eager and joyful, he wasn’t about to let the object of his affection get away.

“We don’t have to go all the way,” he said, “I just want to be closer to you.”

The silver and purple eyes meeting Reiji’s hopeful brown ones were still conflicted.

“Why me?”

Reiji was so taken aback by the question he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Ultimately, it was the laugh that won out, and he snuggled his face deeper into the curve of Ranmaru’s neck. “Because I love you, Ranmaru Kurosaki. I’ve loved you for a long time.”

“Love…?”

“Love.” Reiji asserted, giving Ranmaru a squeeze. “It’s you or no one, Ran-Ran.”

The two exchanged a few more light kisses before Ranmaru reached a decision.

“Sit me up,” he said.

Reiji stood and helped Ranmaru shift on the couch until he was in his usual upright position with his good leg resting on the floor and the other propped on the coffee table. An irresistible frisson ran up the brunette’s spine as he watched his partner curl his fingers under his fitted shirt and lift it over his head. The flickering images from the television cast blue and gold halos on the thin layer of sweat already covering his lean body.

Ranmaru tossed his shirt aside and held his hands out. “Now, come here.”

Reiji faced Ranmaru and let the rocker guide him into a straddling position, with his knees spread to either side of Ranmaru’s hips and his hands resting on Ranmaru’s shoulders. Even in the dim light of the living room, the contrast of Ranmaru’s exceptionally pale skin against his own was breathtaking, and Reiji couldn’t help but trail his hand up Ranmaru’s neck and into his platinum hair. It was feathery and disheveled from the static of Ranmaru’s shirt, lending him an even wilder air than usual and sending Reiji’s heartbeat skyrocketing. The look in Ranmaru’s lined eyes and the sudden heat in his voice almost made it stop entirely.

“Kiss me.”

He did and immediately felt Ranmaru’s tongue enter his open mouth. The kiss had an urgency to it that hadn’t been there just moments earlier, and despite gasping desperately every time their lips parted, Reiji found it increasingly difficult to keep up with his partner’s ardor. Ranmaru must have sensed his distress because he soon pulled away and let his head rest against the back of the couch. He studied Reiji with a heavy-lidded gaze as they both regained their breath. When their bodies stilled, Ranmaru’s hands slid down Reiji’s back to his hips, where his readily apparent excitement should have been enough to negate Ranmaru’s next question.

“Are you feeling good?” he asked huskily.

“Mmhmm...”

“You want to keep going?”

Fresh sweat beaded on Reiji’s brow. It hadn’t escaped him that Ranmaru hadn’t returned his confession of love, but in that moment, he didn’t care.

“Yeah.”

“Then get up on your knees.”

Even though the change in position from sitting upon Ranmaru’s lap to kneeling before him sent a clear message of what was about to happen, Reiji was nonetheless startled by the sight of the long-fingered hands unbuckling his belt. Ranmaru withdrew the strip of leather completely and dropped it to the floor before eagerly drawing down the khakis it’d been paired with. A moan of pleasure parted Reiji’s lips as the fabric trailed lightly over his captive erection. Ranmaru placed his hands along the back of Reiji’s thighs and drew him so close that the latter could feel the former’s quickening breath through the fabric of his underwear. Each of the bassist’s words played upon Reiji’s hyper-sensitized body deliciously.

“Are you ready?”

Reiji’s reply was more a plea than an answer, made clipped and airy by arousal. “Ran-Ran...”

He thought he might die of embarrassment at his wanton use of the pet name until Ranmaru looked up to pin him with a passionate and reassuring glance. “Reiji.”

The two kept eye contact as Ranmaru’s hot fingers slid across Reiji’s legs and hooked over the elastic waistband of the final barrier between them. As it came down, Reiji was suddenly aware of just how vulnerable he was. The ambient air of the room was cold against his over-heated and throbbing member, and he was unable to ignore the dampness of the underwear now gathered at his knees. He felt panicked, and was about to pull away when his discomfort was banished by the warm wetness of Ranmaru’s mouth.

Reiji cried out at the new sensation, and threw his hands forward to grab the sofa back as every muscle in his body went tight as a bowstring. At first, he could only stare straight ahead, trying desperately to fight the dizzying waves of giddiness that went ripping through him with every trip of Ranmaru’s lips along his shaft, but as his body became accustomed to the rhythm, his mind opened up to other, equally thrilling elements of the encounter.

Even through the din of the television behind them, Reiji was keenly aware of the faint sucking and occasional loud slurp that issued from between his thighs. Goosebumps rose on his skin each time Ranmaru’s spiked hair contacted it, and he realized the hands that had once been on his thighs now had tight fistfuls off his ass. When Reiji found the courage to look down, he felt his legs turn to jelly at the sight of Ranmaru fully absorbed in pleasuring him. Eyes all but closed, with his face flushed crimson, the rocker was beautiful, and Reiji couldn’t resist reaching down to comb his spider-silk hair away from his face for a better view.

The contact seemed to draw Ranmaru out of his reverie, and his eyes flicked up briefly with something hidden in them that made Reiji shiver. Ranmaru released Reiji’s cock from his mouth and took it in his left hand, running his thumb over the tip and his tongue along the underside of the shaft.

“Aahhh...” Reiji moaned, “That’s...”

The roughness of Ranmaru’s thumb against the most sensitive part of his body alone was enough to make Reiji quiver. Combined with the equal but opposite sensation of Ranmaru’s smooth tongue, it threatened to send him over the edge. His cries increased in pitch and frequency every time Ranmaru altered his speed or grip, until tears gathered in his eyes and he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ran-Ran,” he begged, voice ragged with lust, “I...”

Reiji had to strain to make out Ranmaru’s response, so deep had the man’s voice become from his own growing ecstasy. “Are you gonna come?”

The brunette could only nod as a single, tortured tear escaped over the edge of his cheek.

“It’s okay if you lose control, Reiji,” Ranmaru told him.

The smaller man didn’t have time to ponder what exactly Ranmaru had meant before he was again swallowed up. His toes curled and he arched his back, one hand supporting himself on the sofa and the other on top of the silvery head that was servicing him with heightened vigor. Ranmaru’s tongue laved against his dick mercilessly, making Reiji want to work his hips against the intoxicating friction. It seemed inexcusably lewd, and even violent to Reiji, but the feeling building in him was unlike anything he’d experienced before. He’d jerked off countless times to thoughts of what his partner might look like under his clothes, but the real thing was better. _So_ much better, and it brought out desires in him he hadn’t previously known existed.

As Ranmaru drew him closer to the edge, Reiji’s urge became more and more powerful. His body felt so good, and he’d waited for so long. When a small drop of sweat rolled under shirt and over one of his hardened nipples, something broke in him. With a single thrust, Reiji came into Ranmaru’s mouth. He watched, mesmerized, as Ranmaru’s throat briefly tightened and released before finally pulling away. Utterly spent, Reiji sank limply onto his lover’s heaving chest.

Ranmaru ran the back of his hand across his glistening chin and reached for the blanket he’d been using as a pillow earlier in the day. He shook it out and drew it across Reiji’s nakedness. Thus ensconced, he wrapped his arms around the brunette and rested his cheek on the top of his head.

The gestures made Reiji feel safe, and loved.

“That was…wonderful,” he said airily, “ _You_ were wonderful, Ran-Ran.”

He felt more than heard Ranmaru’s satisfied chuckle.

“How’d you learn to do that?”

Reiji squealed in reaction to the quick pinch on his still sensitive nipples.

“What are you suggesting?” Ranmaru demanded. “That I’m easy?”

“What? No!” Reiji exclaimed hastily, “You’re hard, Ran-Ran.”

The smaller man flicked through his memories of all the time and energy he’d spent trying to get Ranmaru to notice him. “ _So_ hard.”

He threw his arms around Ranmaru’s neck and looked into his face with an expression of pure bliss. “But sooo worth it.”

Though it made him squirm, Reiji felt compelled to check-in with Ranmaru about his actions. “It was okay, right? What I...what...at the end...”

“I told you it was.”

“Oh. Good.” Reiji blushed and decided to leave it at that. Unlike what Ranmaru seemed to to believe, he was thankful for the rocker’s experience. If _he’d_ had to take charge, the encounter likely wouldn’t have been enjoyable for either of them.

The thought struck a chord in Reiji that made him shoot upright anxiously.

“Oh!” He exclaimed. His hands flew to Ranmaru’s zipper, but the other man’s fast grip on his wrists stopped them.

“Leave it,” Ranmaru said calmly.

Reiji shrank into a ball and hid his face in his hands. “You must think I’m an idiot...”

“No,” Ranmaru replied as his dragged his fingers through Reiji’s hair. “I think you’re cute. So shut-up and let me hold you, already.”

Ranmaru peeled back one of Reiji’s hands and peered in at him with a soft smile. “Okay?”

The two spent the rest of the night cuddled together in silence, as their heartbeats slowly synchronized.

**To be continued...**

**Author's Note:**

> 1A small entryway in which you leave your shoes before entering a Japanese house [return to text]  
> 2Convenience store [return to text]  
> 3Casual Japanese for "yes". Cultural note: In addition to being one of Ranmaru's favorite foods, bananas are sometimes given to people when they're sick in Japan, similar to chicken soup/saltine crackers in the West [return to text]  
> 4Japanese-style fried chicken [return to text]


End file.
